Philip Maddocks: Tiger Woods’ image says it is being unfairly punished for the real Tiger’s transgressions

Philip Maddocks

Thursday

Dec 24, 2009 at 12:01 AMDec 24, 2009 at 1:01 PM

Tiger Woods’ image, under siege for the last month, took the unprecedented step of urging the public and high-paying business clients to stop confusing its ethically and athletically pure marketing persona with the now sullied character of the real-life Tiger.

Tiger Woods’ image, under siege for the last month, took the unprecedented step of urging the public and high-paying business clients to stop confusing its ethically and athletically pure marketing persona with the now sullied character of the real-life Tiger.

Mr. Woods’ image said it is unfair that its impeccable reputation is suddenly being tarnished by the actions of the real life Mr. Woods and said it was at a loss to explain what it termed the "shortsighted and grossly inequitable actions" of companies such as Accenture, which ended its sponsorship deal last week and replaced Mr. Woods’ image on the company home page with that of an anonymous skier.

"Some of the biggest names in advertising and sports marketing have spent more than a decade praising, worshiping, and paying for my larger-than-life image that has appeared in commercials and on billboards around the world," said Mr. Woods’ image on Wednesday, speaking during a layover at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. "People need to remember that this image is bigger than the game of golf, bigger than Tiger, even. So how is it reasonable that this image — which never ran over a hydrant in Windermere, Fla., was never unfaithful to Elin, and never declined to speak to the Florida Highway Patrol about a crash — is now being made to shoulder the blame for Tiger’s transgressions?"

Tiger Woods’ image pointed to its almost flawless track record of results, including a six-year stint as the face of Accenture, as well as work as a pitchman for Swiss luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer, Nike and Procter & Gamble among others. Mr. Woods’ image said that during this time, its work ethic — which helped earn tens of millions of dollars in endorsement deals for the golfer — has been second to none in the business and continues, to this day, to be beyond repute.

When it comes to the results, Mr. Woods’ image said it is more than happy to share the glory with its real life counterpart, acknowledging there are things that the real Tiger is able to do that it, Tiger’s image, could only dream of doing. But at the same time, argues Mr. Woods’ image, there are limits to what a great golfer, even one as great as Mr. Woods, can accomplish unless they also have a talented image that can deliver.

"Do you think it is all Tiger’s doing that television ratings for golf during his absence were down by an average of 50 percent from 2007, and down a similar level for the two events he missed from the 2009 schedule before returning? Of course not," Mr. Woods’ image said. "He can, and does, make a fine living playing golf, but without me, he wouldn’t be on his way to becoming the first athlete to earn more than $1 billion in his career. That’s not boasting. It’s just a fact."

Mr. Woods’ image said, like the real-life golfer bearing its name, that it tends to be guarded in public and acknowledged that speaking out like this is a bit out of character, but it felt compelled to respond to "the malicious mischaracterization of its integrity" since reports of Tiger’s infidelity surfaced last month.

That Mr. Woods was the butt of jokes on a "Saturday Night Live" skit is perfectly acceptable, even justified, said Mr. Woods’ image. The image said it had probably laughed as hard as anyone at Jay Leno’s joking that it was nice of Oprah Winfrey to offer her couch to Mr. Woods as a confessional but that the invitation should have come from Jerry Springer.

What Mr. Woods’ image said it couldn’t abide are the reckless declamations that indiscriminately interchange its and the golfer’s actions with one another, as if Tiger and his image are one and the same.

"We certainly share some qualities, but we are decidedly not the same being, and suggestions that we are — such as David Letterman’s Top 10 List of How Tiger Can Improve His Image — are both demeaning and dishonest," Tiger’s image said.

Mr. Woods’ image said it has been particularly frustrated by the steady stream of public relations experts — who should know better — declaring that Mr. Woods’ on-course image and off-course marketing image built on the indomitable, invincible dominator must go.

In fact, Mr. Woods’ image said, the golfer’s image is as indomitable, invincible, and dominating as ever. It points out that despite Accenture’s best efforts to expunge its ties with Tiger’s image, including telling employees to tear down all the posters of the golfer, it, Mr. Woods’ image, is still highly visible as the face of the company, living on in advertisements at the Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, and Dulles International airports.

Tiger’s image said he bore no ill will against the golfer.

"He works hard, but he is fallible, that’s why he needs me," said Mr. Woods’ image. "What the corporate world and the public has to realize is that if they insist on shooting the messenger, they could wind up killing the message. And I’m not sure they are ready for that."

Philip Maddocks can be reached at pmaddock@cnc.com.

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